The NFL is considering adding a game the day before Thanksgiving to this season’s schedule as it continues to explore additional broadcast windows.
The possibility of a Thanksgiving Eve game was first reported by ESPN.
The three Thanksgiving Day games are among the most watched during the regular season. Last year’s slate averaged 44.7 million viewers, surpassing the 2024 mark of 34.5 million.
The late-afternoon game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys on CBS averaged 57.2 million, making it the most-watched NFL regular-season game on record. The previous record was 42.1 million for the 2022 game between the Cowboys and New York Giants.
The league also played on Black Friday the past three seasons and has seen steady audience growth. Last year’s game between the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles on Amazon Prime Video averaged 16.3 million.
“Every offseason we look for new opportunities to best serve our fans in the schedule-making process,” the league said Wednesday in a statement. “As Commissioner (Roger) Goodell has said, Thanksgiving and NFL football have become synonymous and given the continued growth of fan interest around our games on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, looking for additional opportunities tied to this special holiday is exciting for us to explore.”
If the league goes ahead with a Thanksgiving Eve game, the teams likely would have a bye the previous week.
Thanksgiving Eve would give the league nine major broadcast windows to fill. There also would be the spotlight games in the early and late-afternoon Sunday windows, Sunday night and Monday night.
The regular-season schedule is not expected to be released until the first or second week of May. Team owners and networks will have a chance to make their final pitches during league meetings in Phoenix later this month.
